Red wine and artichoke vegan pasta bake recipe

Artichokes give this vegan pasta bake from The Gluttonous Vegan a meaty texture

The Gluttonous Vegan: "It almost felt a waste to use these artichoke hearts in a simple pasta bake but the texture of them works so well in the bake I couldn't resist. Breadcrumbs on the top make a good replacement for the traditional cheese and the wine makes a more interesting flavour than boring old plain tomato.

I used a mix of black beans and kidney beans but you could use any canned bean really. And you don't even have to use artichoke! You could gently cook some sliced leek and add that, or blanche some small broccoli pieces and then chuck those in.

The pasta I used was the big fat tube type. I like them because they fill up with all the goodies. You could try it with macaroni, or the little bow ties! You might need to keep an eye on the cooking time though, I think the smaller pastas would cook quicker than these big tubies."

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 cans chopped tomatoes
240ml red wine (or one of those small bottles)
2 x 400g cans of your choice of beans
Enough pasta to cover the bottom of your baking dish (use a long and wide shallow one if you’ve got it)
Handful of sliced artichoke hearts (or your choice of veg)
3-4 slices bread

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Chop the onion and add it to a pan with the oil. Fry over a medium high heat until softened. Chop and add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, the wine and the beans. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave for about 10 minutes. Taste, and if it still tastes wine-y (if it's a strong wine taste), leave to cook a little longer. Once the wine taste has mellowed and the mix has thickened, turn off the heat.
Line your baking dish with your pasta. If you're using the tubes, lay them on their sides in order. Pour on the mix. You might need to wiggle the pasta around a little to make sure they're filled. Poke the artichoke hearts into the gaps between the pasta, making sure they’re covered by the sauce.
Put the bread slices into a blender for a few seconds. This makes breadcrumbs! Spread the breadcrumbs over the top of the pasta.
Put into the oven for about 10 minutes. The breadcrumbs will have browned now but the pasta won't be cooked yet so remove from the oven and use a fork to rake the crumbs over so they're not all brown. Put back into the oven for another 7-10 minutes until they're browned again. Stick a fork into the mix somewhere near the edge and see if the pasta's cooked (you might need to try it). If it's not cooked yet, re-rake the crumbs and give it another few minutes. Serve as soon as the pasta's cooked.